*Calls for Emefiele’s removal is trivialising Nigeria’s problems
*Nigerians should look inward
*Forex availability is beyond CBN
By Omoh Gabriel, Nkiruka Norom & Lawani Mikairu

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has generated no less than six million jobs through intervention funding since 2009, even as many Nigerians have expressed shock over calls for the sack of the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele because of the bank’s monetary policies. They say the bank has done well and should be commended instead of being lampooned.

Presidency sources said that from the evaluation of the apex bank’s intervention in the economy since 2009 has created a total of 6,000,000 jobs through its developmental finance initiatives. Figures sighted by Financial Vanguard from the Presidency evaluation data showed that the CBN set up eight intervention funds of N1.57 trillion out of which economic operators have accessed N819.164 billion to resuscitate their businesses that has helped to sustain some sectors. Going by the data sighted by Vanguard, in 2009, the bank through its Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme set up N200 billion intervention fund. As of today, a total of N337.635 billion was disbursed and a total of N137.804 has been repaid.

Mr Godwin Emefiele answering questions during his screening by the Senate for Central Bank Governorship in Abuja on Wednesday

The fund financed a total of 423 projects and generated a total of 1, 132, 232 jobs and saved the investors interest payment of N42.564 billion. The data further showed that the CBN Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme that was set up in 1978 with N3million as seed money disbursed a total of N97.014 billion out of which N67.014 billion was repaid. The intervention granted loan facility of 1,009,180 and has so far generated a total of 5,045,900 jobs.

The CBN evaluation data showed that the Small, Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Scheme set up by the apex bank in 2010 had as its seed money the sum of N300 billion. So far, N4.219 billion has been disbursed while 2.439 billion has been repaid. The intervention fund financed 87 projects. The data also showed that the apex bank set up in 2014 the RSSF facility of N300 billion, out of which N3.5 billion has been disbursed for a single project. Also in 2010, the apex bank set up the Power and Aviation Intervention fund of N300 billion. So far, a total of N255 billion has been disbursed and N69.755 billion repaid. The fund has financed 56 projects.

The bank they said has three other funding for which about N450 billion was set aside and several projects have benefited from the intervention funding. The Presidency official wondered why Nigerians can not understand what the apex bank is trying to do for the nation. He said that instead of looking for scape-goats, Nigerians should face reality and learn to do what is right.

The Director General Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mr. Muda Yusuf believe that the call for the removal of Emefiele as CBN governor is trivialising a very serious matter. He said “The issue is not whether to remove him or not but how to address the policy in place that will give private sector operators a level playing ground. To the private sector, reviewing the policy on ground is what matters. Some of the issues facing the nation today were not created by the Governor.” He said what the average business man is concerned with is how to access foreign exchange to conduct his business. He said exporters also would like to see the proper use of the proceeds of their exports.

Mr. Emeka Ugwu-Oju, President of South-East South-South Professionals of Nigeria said he would hold his comment on the issue until after the body’s visit to the Vice-President on Thursday to discuss issues about the regions with him. He said there after, the body will visit the CBN to hear from them before making a statement. He said his body will not like to make statements based on sentiments.

Exchange rate challenge beyond him, though monetary policy flawed – Investment banker 

An investment banker who prefers anonymity said his monetary policy is flawed, but insisted that stabilising the naira is beyond the CBN governor. “On the monetary policy, there are inconsistencies because the assumptions on which they take decision are at variance with decisions they take. So, on that, you could see some flaws, some inconsistencies, but in terms of the exchange rate, it is beyond him because the President has taken a position and anything on the contrary will mean direct confrontation with the president,” he said.

“The key thing is that the position of the President has jeopardised any other position and has constrained the MPC from taking any liberal decision. Generally, in terms of exchange rate, it is beyond the CBN governor, but in terms of monetary policy, there are inconsistencies because the premise on which they take certain decisions seem to be at variance with underlying factors that should be the driving factors for economic growth in Nigeria today.”

Call for CBN governor’s removal uncalled for — Stockbrokers
Commenting, Alhaji Ola Yussuff, Managing Director, Trust Yield Securities Limited, said: “It is uncalled for. I don’t think you have to remove the CBN governor simply because he is pursuing certain policies. People forget that there is what is called autonomy; CBN is an autonomous institution and the role of any CBN governor is to ensure that the monetary policy of this country is run on independent autonomous basis. CBN governor is not necessarily reporting to the president; he is to look at the economic policy of the country and adjust the monetary policy as he feels like, that’s why you have the committee.

“The question of removing or not removing the governor is political. You don’t do such thing. The worst you can do is to wait for his tenure to expire and not renew it. His removal will send a wrong signal because we cannot be disrupting things like that.”

Continuing, he said: “The fall in Naira has nothing to do with the CBN governor. The fall in Naira is a reflection of fall in foreign exchange earnings from the oil receipt. We are not earning as much money as we used to earn from oil; that is why the Naira is falling.

“It has nothing to do with the CBN governor; there is no magic he can perform on that. People needed to be educated. Your currency is a reflection of how strong your economy is and our economy is weak because we depended all along on petroleum money and that petroleum money is no longer there. The little there was taken away by politicians. So, we don’t have money.

“So, how can your currency be strong? You don’t have reserve; your reserve is gone. The revenue you are earning from oil is declining and that is what the currency is reflecting.

“So, it has nothing to do with the CBN governor, it has to do with the fundamental of our economy. The fundamental is that we are not producing; we are not generating money. The oil we are using to generate money is no longer selling; it is selling below the price it used to and we have been printing money all along.

“So, if we don’t have foreign currency to bring what we need now, then you have to use your local currency and if your local currency is chasing very limited amount of goods, then prices will be going up. That is what is causing inflation.”

He noted that the challenge for the nation is to go back and ‘produce everything we need ourselves; that is when we will get it right. If you like, change your CBN governor every day; it is not going to change anything. There is no magic anybody can perform.’

In his own reaction, Mr. Emeka Mmadubuike, Chairman, Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), said: “Given where the economy is, this is the worst time to remove anybody. People need to come up with more useful suggestions as to what needs to happen and it must be useful and tactical. We are facing multi-dimensional problems and so there is no one-size-fit-all solution because we are coming out from a situation where there was no control; there was no discipline. Added to that, we have a situation where we are facing very serious challenge on the price of oil, which is beyond anybody’s control.

“For me, given all the factors that we face, now is not the right time to remove anybody, rather we need to put heads together and find useful and practical solutions out of the problem.”
He continued: “I don’t think it is a problem that will go away over night; it is going to take a while given the factors that are confronting the nation. There is nobody you bring now that has the magic wand. Now is the time people need to sit together and work together, provided we have sincerity of purpose. That is what has been lacking.

“We need to do away with people who are wherever just for their own selfish interest, because if you have a country that has continuous leakage in such a massive proportion, it doesn’t matter who you bring. Even if you get the World Bank President to be your CBN governor, nothing will change.  That is the truth.”

Mmadubuike stated that there is need for Nigerians to change their appetite for imported items to made-in-Nigeria goods, saying that the government should take the lead ‘so that we can preserve the little foreign exchange that we earn.’

“If we continue to have this ostentatious appetite of exotic things; when people want to do little thing, they want to go to Dubai and Lebanon; we need to begin to change all that and government has to lead in that process. That is the real change that we need. There has to be a paradigm shift in the way we think. So, removing the CBN governor will not solve any problem,” he said.

Some of the passengers interviewed by Vanguard at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos argued against the removal of the apex bank boss. Mr. James Oba passenger at Muritala Mohammed airport reacting to the call stressed that he did not see any tangible reason that would warrant the sack of the CBN governor. Oba, who claimed that he works in one of the banks in the country said that as far as he was concerned, the CBN governor is trying to improve local production of goods and services in the country as against foreign importation which had been a catalyst for the call for further devaluation of the naira.

According to him, CBN maintains the official rate of N197 to a dollar ($1) and noted that because most businessmen could not get it, they resort to buying it from the black market at such exorbitant price at N320 to $1 which is quite higher than the official CBN rate. He argued that the importation of goods by these businessmen at such rate was responsible for crashing the value of the naira as well as the possible cause of inflation. Oba also said “Nigeria is a mono-product economy that solely depends on oil. In Nigeria, we import more than we do export. As you know, the price of crude oil has fallen and it is affecting our currency because our foreign reserve has dropped drastically.”

“I think what the CBN Governor is trying to do is to put up a policy that will boost local production. If most of the importers can’t buy goods outside the country at such high rate of the dollar, they will be forced to look in-ward and begin to produce such goods locally and this will be better for the country”.

Another respondent, Mallam Isa Bello, told Vanguard that Emefiele should be allowed to complete his tenure. According to him, “His policies are good, with his forex policy, I think he is trying to diversify the economy and make Nigeria move from oil to other areas like agriculture, tourism amongst others” Bello affirmed.

Earlier, the overseer of The Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, had called for the sack of Mr. Emefiele following the alleged role the bank played in the $2billion arms deal.

However, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole accused those advocating for his sack as saboteurs of the Nigerian economy.